Aftermath
by Radiklement
Summary: Altissia was hell for Noctis and Ignis, but Noctis's shield found himself on the sidelines, left to collect the rubbles and try to piece things together. Still lacking a lot of information, Gladiolus receives a call from his younger sister and tries to calm her regarding the news she heard about the covenant. One-shot.


After recently replaying through Altissia's chapter and the whole angst/tragedy, I thought I needed to think of one of the chocobros who ended up on the sidelines during those harsh times. So today, I dwell for a small one-shot in Gladio's head, only a few hours after the catastrophe that was Altissia. This story is a phone call, so it might seem abrupt, but I hope you'll enjoy this read.

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Aftermath

When Gladiolus finally got his phone to work, it was to find a dozen texts and twice as many missed calls from his sister. Altissia was supposed to be a walk in the park, a wedding ceremony. It had switched to the first step into an all-out war with the empire, the first step in striking back after the attack on the citadel. And now Noctis was lying half dead in a bed, recovering somehow, while Ignis had to stumble and lean against the walls to find his way around the Leville.

Gladiolus had collected a new set of scars, but there were invisible to the naked eye and he wasn't sure how to explain the anger he felt as he'd found both Ignis and Noctis lying down on the stone. Out cold and hurt in far too many ways. Prompto had barely gotten any sleep, focusing on looking after either of their friends when Gladiolus couldn't be by their side himself.

It was hard to tell if anyone had gotten any sleep in the last 36 hours. All Gladio could remember was how frantic Noctis was now that he could finally see the infamous Lunafreya. The negotiations with the first secretary of Accordo had been handled far smoother than he'd expected. But no sign of the Oracle until she'd given her speech. And now she was gone. Not even a body to confirm her death, but it was all over the papers.

 _As if she's never existed to begin with._

His phone rang in his hand once more and Gladiolus braced himself, putting his sister on speaker.

"Gladdy?!"

"Hey. Sorry you got so worried. Water and cellphones don't match, and I had to let it sit in rice for…"

"Are you alright?" Iris cut him off, her voice a little higher than usual.

He sighed.

"I'm fine."

One lie. But what was a big brother supposed to do? He could already hear the tears in the sharp breaths she was taking, and it was painful knowing she was a full ocean away. Usually, his arms around her were enough to keep the sobs at bay and he sure didn't want her to cry, even though she must have cried herself to sleep as soon as the first echo of news arrived in Lucis.

"What about the guys?"

His throat ached and something in his chest was working all kinds of wrong. Prompto was barely holding himself together and Ignis had almost attacked his nurse when he first came to. The advisor's very first words had been for Noctis, asking about his well-being, his hands pushing away his covers. The Shield was forced to restrain him until he'd heard reasons, and he couldn't spend every day holding his friend down.

"Noctis is still dropping in and out of consciousness, but the doctors looking after him insisted he'd make a full recovery," he stated.

Iris let out the breath she'd been holding, her relief not quite comforting.

Noctis would recover, but they had yet to know how long it would take for him to wake up. He'd defeated the largest sea-snake Gladiolus had ever seen after battling with countless magiteck soldiers and his bodyguard hadn't been there to give him support.

"What about Ignis and Prompto?" his sister insisted.

"Prompto's doing good."

Another lie. Physically speaking, the gunman was sort of fine. A pulled muscle here and there and a few bruised ribs, nothing a potion wouldn't fix. How Gladio wished he could tell her one more lie, but it wouldn't be fair if they were to ever make it back home.

"Iggy's the worst off. I don't know what he did or who he fought against, but his eyes were hurt. His eyesight might never come back."

Her gasp was all he got as confirmation she was still on the phone. Specs was blind. Gladiolus let the silence stretched, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. His shoulders were tensed, his fingers threatened to clench over the phone too strongly, but his heart was beating quietly. Steadily.

 _Noctis is losing his advisor. He can't lose sight of his goal. He can't lose me._

"How is that even…?"

"Burns. Nasty burns. His eyelids have melted shut on one side… He used too much magic, or he was hit by some spell, he won't talk about it."

 _You're rambling, man. She doesn't need the details. She needs to be comforted. She needs you to stand strong._

"By the Six…"

"He insists that he's fine and well on the mend. He's already up and walking about."

He tried to sound playful, as if he was mocking Scientia, but his heart wasn't into it.

 _I can't protect Noctis and a blind Ignis. I can barely protect my king as it is._

"Are you looking after him? Making sure he doesn't push himself too hard? It must be so jarring to lose your eyesight. I can't imagine what he's going through," Iris whispered.

Her voice was white.

"I'm doing my best."

Third lie. He had no idea what he was doing. No idea how he could be of help now. He was a mountain of muscles and a man of action and right now, all they could do was wait for both of their friends to be back on their feet.

Iris didn't talk before a full minute had passed, but her next question didn't surprise him. It was the empty feeling it brought that shocked him.

"What about the Oracle?"

"You saw the papers? She's gone. The waves…"

This lie sounded too wrong and his voice broke. Gladiolus was still trying to understand what had happened to his liege. One minute, Noctis was zipping around in the sky, flying, harnessing the full power of the gods to defeat one of their own. And then he was lying on the ground, broken and Luna had been there next to him, until she vanished if he was to believe Ignis's words.

 _If it were the waves, how could Noctis still be here when he was right next to her?_

He hated magic. He hated the stupid gods and the crystal and hated himself for reacting like this. Nothing made sense anymore. People were hurting, missing, and all he knew was that the empire had won even though the Astral had sided with Noctis.

"Brother?"

"Lunafreya's gone. It's one of the last things Ignis saw."

He closed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. Iggy was blind. They needed a new driver. They needed to find a place for the king's advisor to stay. They couldn't let him into battles, they couldn't keep up their little party of four.

We were stupid to believe the four of us could take on the empire. I should have seen it. I should have known better.

"You don't sound fine," Iris said, voice shivering. "None of you four can be fine if…"

She was crying now. She was crying, and he couldn't hold her or find the strength to cry with her.

"We're alive. I'll bring your King back home before you know it."

"All four of you?"

 _I think I'm already gone._

He felt different. He'd seen Titan and Ramuh already, but Leviathan was on another level. Lady Camelia had insisted on meeting them and made it clear that she wanted the King out of her city as soon as possible, even if she was grateful for the blow he'd dealt to the imperial fleet. Her city had suffered a lot of damages and while most of the people had been evacuated from the epicenter in time, she didn't want Noctis to linger. The empire wouldn't stay weak for long and threats had come for the first secretary right after the covenant.

Noctis and his precious Luna had pretty much single-handedly destroyed Altissia because of a prophecy that only a few in Lucis believed in.

 _How strong can he get before he reaches his limit?_

"Gladdy?" Iris insisted.

"All four of us. I promise you, sis."

He wanted it to be the truth so much, but wasn't he kidding himself? Ignis was already blind. If he let Prompto out of his sight, the guy might very well lose a limb or worse at this rate.

"Stay safe. And let me know when Noctis wakes up, if you can."

He would normally smile at the softness in her voice when she mentioned Noct, but all he could feel was dread.

"I'll try. Calling you back might be hard with the reconstruction effort."

"You can always write. I won't move from Caern before I get more news from you guys."

"You stay safe, Iris," he asked her.

"I'm as safe as can be."

His thoughts veered to a dark idea turning in the back of his mind.

 _Of course, you're safe. You don't have me as your bodyguard like two persons I know._

"Just stay that way until I… we get back."

"Keep an eye on Ignis. And try to eat properly."

"Sure." A knock on his door made him look around. It sounded like Prompto. "I have to go, sis."

"Okay. Goodbye then."

Goodbye was his least favorite word now.

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Let me know what you think? You can totally consider this in the same continuity as "Calling Umbra".


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